UKIAH — Jeffrey Ponce, Cristian Ponce and Adryan Segura of the Kelseyville High School wrestling team had a couple of things in common on Saturday while turning in strong showings in their respective weight classes at the Ukiah Invitational.
They all finished second and they all lost to No. 1 seeds in their championship matches.
The Ponce brothers, Segura and Gabriel Rodriguez, who finished fifth at 222 pounds, all brought home medals from the tournament.
Jeffrey Ponce lost by 8-2 decision in the 108-pound championship match while Cristian Ponce also lost by decision (score unavailable) in the 124-pound finals. Segura trailed 5-4 in the 147-pound championship match before being pinned in the final 30 seconds.
Rodriguez lost his first match of the tournament to the No. 1 seed, meaning the highest he could place was fifth. He did just that by winning his final three matches, all by pin.
“Four of our guys weren”t there because of the flu,” Brown said of the Knights” eighth-place finish overall. “But I was really happy with the guys that were there.”
Brown also was impressed with the efforts of the Lower Lake boys, who placed fifth overall, and the Middletown girls, who placed third in the separate girls” tournament.
“Lower Lake really looked good, their guys wrestled real well,” Brown said. “The Middletown girls did a great job and I enjoyed watching them compete. If they wrestle like that this weekend (at the North Coast Section Girls” Championships in Pittsburg), I”m sure they”re going to do real well.”
Kelseyville returns to action today in the final Coastal Mountain Conference dual of the regular season, that in Lower Lake against the host Trojans (3-3) and the Clear Lake Cardinals (5-1). Kelseyville brings a 5-1 dual record into Lower Lake. On Saturday, the Knights will likely return to Lower Lake to compete in the NCS Team Duals.
